The burial work took five hours.
Five hours of digging in soil that shouldn't have to hold so many bodies. Five hours of carrying victims who weighed nothing because they'd been drained of everything. Five hours of saying prayers nobody really knew but felt necessary anyway.
The Shadow Legion worked in grim silence. Twelve people left behind while Han, Iron Zhou, and the twins carried the three survivors back toward help. Twelve exhausted cultivators trying to give dignity to people who'd been stripped of it in the worst ways.
Hunter dug graves despite his injuries. One-armed, ribs grinding with every shovelful, body screaming for rest he refused to give it. But he worked alongside his people because leaders didn't delegate the hard parts. Leaders got their hands dirty literally and metaphorically.
